‘Gen V’ Finale, ‘Abbott’ to the DMV and Game Night, Harlen Coben’s ‘Lazarus,’ Remembering Connie Francis

Gen V

The superheroes-in-training face their greatest nemesis in the Boys spinoff’s Season 2 finale when they’re forced to confront Thomas Godolkin (Wicked‘s Ethan Slater), the revitalized founder of Godolkin U. Intent on “culling the herd” and “accelerating my own evolution,” the mind-controlling Godolkin turns on the college’s student body, and it’s up to Marie (Jaz Sinclair) and her crew to try to stop him in an explosive showdown. Bonus: the strangest version of the Judy Garland standard “Get Happy” you’re ever likely to witness.

Abbott Elementary

How did the DMV suddenly become a hotbed for comedy? While the new CBS sitcom DMV focuses on the employees, Abbott stays mostly in the waiting area of the Philly branch, where Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph), Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter), principal Ava (Janelle James), and a hopefully New Orleans-bound Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) impatiently wait to attain a REAL ID. Laugh-out-loud moments include Ava’s experience at the photo booth and any encounter with a seemingly soulless clerk (Maria Russell). Elsewhere, in a subplot that could easily have carried its own episode, Gregory (Tyler James Williams) volunteers to host a game night for Janine (Quinta Brunson), Jacob (Chris Perfetti), and their friends, few of whom have experienced his chilly inner sanctum, described by one guest as “almost like a facility.”

Lazarus

Harlan Coben, no stranger to having his best-selling thrillers adapted into streaming series, creates an original six-parter that goes for supernatural chills. Daisy Jones & the Six‘s Sam Claflin stars as Joel Lazarus, a British forensic psychologist who fears he may be losing his mind when he’s haunted by the spirit of his late father (the great Bill Nighy), whose apparent suicide leaves behind a mystery that Joel investigates with the ghost’s guidance. The spooky quest could also shed light on his sister’s murder 25 years ago.

Where the Boys Are

The pop singer Connie Francis, who passed away in July at 87 after enjoying a late-in-life renaissance when her 1962 recording of “Pretty Little Baby” went viral, took the Elvis Presley route in the 1960s by capitalizing on her music success and appearing in a series of frothy musicals. TCM devotes a night to Francis’s escapist romcoms, starting with the 1960 spring-break frolic that shares its title with one of her biggest hits (8/7c). The rest of the lineup doesn’t stray far from that theme: Follow the Boys (10/9c), Looking for Love (12 am/11c), and When the Boys Meet the Girls (1:30 am/12:30c).

Slow Horses

Damage control is the name of the spy game in the penultimate episode of the sardonic thriller’s fifth season. One mayoral candidate lies dead, accidentally, while the assassins who tried to take out his rival plot their next move, which Slough House’s slovenly boss Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) rightly perceives to be “Blind Your Enemy.” MI5’s interrogation of the seductress who targeted “slow horse” techie Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) creates new leads — if they don’t bungle the whole operation again. And what are the odds?

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• Inside the NBA (6 pm/ET, ESPN): The popular pregame, halftime, and postgame show returns, produced by TNT Sports in Atlanta, with Ernie Johnson hosting the outspoken analysts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith. ESPN kicks off its season-long coverage at 7 pm/ET with the Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks, followed by the San Antonio Spurs at Dallas Mavericks.
• Walrus: Life on Thin Ice (8/7c, PBS): Nature launches its 44th season with a trip to the coast of Nome, Alaska, to study the aquatic mammals as they adapt to a world of shrinking sea ice.
• Chicago Med (8/7c, NBC): Dr. Charles (Oliver Platt) tries to convince a patient to accept treatment, while Frost (Darren Barnet) treats a young girl with immunodeficiency. Followed by new episodes of Chicago Fire (9/8c) and Chicago P.D. (10/9c).
• Survivor (8/7c, CBS): Loose lips could imperil a castaway’s survival when their scheming backfires. Followed by The Amazing Race (9:30/8:30c), which is off to Croatia for a double U-Turn and a confounding Roadblock.
• Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (8/7c, The CW): The detectives discover a political motive behind the killing of an investigative journalist in the city’s transit skywalk.
• Expedition X (9/8c, Discovery): With the premiere of HBO‘s It: Welcome to Derry just days away, Phil Torres and Heather Amaro travel in the season finale to Stephen King’s former hometown of Bangor, Maine, to explore the local legends and ghost stories that inspired King’s monstrous magnum opus.
• Dangerously Obese (9/8c, TLC): A new series features bariatric surgeon Dr. Charles Procter (familiar to TLC viewers from 1000-lb Sisters and 1000-lb Best Friends) as he treats patients desperate to combat their obesity, starting with a daughter and her bedridden mother.

 ON THE STREAM:

• The Monster of Florence (streaming on Netflix): A four-part Italian docuseries explores various theories and suspects in the decades-long search for a serial killer whose double murders in the 1980s continue to grip the nation’s attention.
• Mob War: Philadelphia vs. the Mafia (streaming on Netflix): A three-part docuseries unravels the bloody battle for underworld power in the 1990s between mob bosses John Stanfa and Joey Merlino.
• The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (streaming on Hulu): Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars in a remake of the 1992 thriller as a mom who unwittingly hires a nanny (Maika Monroe) who’s not who she claims to be.
• The Morning Show (streaming on Apple TV): Amid tense talent negotiations, Stella (Greta Lee) gets ready for a critical presentation on the 2024 Olympic Games.
• Eli’s Places (streaming on ESPN+): Eli Manning gets improv coaching from Saturday Night Live‘s James Austin Johnson before heading to the University of Oklahoma for mascot tryouts.